Doctoral Dissertation Research: Aging, frailty, and foraging ability in wild male primates

博士论文研究：野生雄性灵长类动物的衰老、衰弱和觅食能力

• 批准号: 1927384
• 负责人: Andrew Marshall
• 金额: $ 1.78万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1927384&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Aging; frailty

While longevity is often described as a uniquely human trait, other apes like chimpanzees also have extended lifespans, living twice as long as monkeys or lemurs. However, we don't fully understand the effects of aging on apes in the wild or which aspects of human longevity are unique. This doctoral research project will investigate how wild male chimpanzees age physiologically and behaviorally with a focus on how aging impacts foraging ability, which may reveal how frailty impacts fitness. The findings will help clarify whether chimpanzees' feeding behavior and performance change with age, and whether foraging could play an important role in shaping their patterns of senescence. This research will fill gaps in our knowledge on the senescence of male primate skeletal biology and may help to clarify whether fertility maintained late in life contributes to the evolution of extended lifespan. The investigators will engage in educational activities in the United States and near the research site in rural Uganda, and foster international research collaborations and capacity building. In addition, the continued presence of researchers in Kibale National Park helps protect one of the last tropical rainforests in all of East Africa, which is notably one of the principal strongholds of chimpanzees in this area.The proposed research will investigate aging in male chimpanzees living in an exceptionally large community at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. The investigators will assess the physiological traits of adult male chimpanzees at various ages to assess how bone density, body mass, chewing ability, and energetic status may decrease in old age. To this end, the research will non-invasively collect and analyze fecal samples to assess chewing efficiency as well as urine samples to measure insulin biomarkers (an indicator of energetic status) and collagen biomarkers to investigate decreases in bone density. Behavioral observations will also be carried out to assess how these physical changes may impact movement, food selection, ingestion rates, mating effort, and sociality. Through a systematic study of aging male chimpanzees' physiology and behavior, this research aims to elucidate the processes of aging and its impact on fitness in wild animals.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

虽然长寿通常被描述为一种独特的人类特征，但其他黑猩猩等其他猿类也具有延长的寿命，其寿命是猴子或狐猴的两倍。但是，我们不完全了解衰老对野生猿的影响，或者人类长寿的哪些方面是独一无二的。该博士研究项目将在生理和行为上调查野生黑猩猩的年龄，重点是衰老如何影响觅食能力，这可能揭示了脆弱的影响。这些发现将有助于阐明黑猩猩的喂养行为和绩效是否随着年龄的增长而变化，以及觅食是否可以在塑造其衰老模式中发挥重要作用。这项研究将填补我们对男性灵长类动物骨骼生物学衰老的了解的空白，并可能有助于阐明生命后期维持生育能力是否有助于延长寿命的发展。调查人员将在美国和乌干达农村的研究站点附近从事教育活动，并促进国际研究合作和能力建设。此外，基巴尔国家公园的研究人员持续存在有助于保护整个东非的最后一个热带雨林之一，这是该地区黑猩猩的主要据点之一。拟议的研究将调查居住在uganda，uganda Kibale国家公园的一个非常大型社区的男性黑猩猩衰老。研究人员将评估成年男性黑猩猩在不同年龄的生理特征，以评估骨密度，体重，咀嚼能力和能量状态如何在老年中降低。为此，该研究将非侵入性收集和分析粪便样品，以评估咀嚼效率以及尿液样品，以测量胰岛素生物标志物（能量状态的指标）和胶原蛋白生物标志物，以研究骨密度的降低。还将进行行为观察，以评估这些物理变化如何影响运动，食物选择，摄入率，交配努力和社会性。通过对衰老男性黑猩猩的生理和行为的系统研究，该研究旨在阐明衰老的过程及其对野生动物的适应性的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的审查标准来通过评估来支持的。